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Great Dane grabs baby from mother's arms, runs into street

A Great Dane snatched a 6-month-old baby from her mother's arms in Monrovia and ran with the girl in his mouth before dropping her in the street, authorities said Wednesday.

The baby’s mother was talking in the doorway of a neighbor's home Monday when the 180-pound dog rushed out, slammed into her, snatched the baby with his jaws and ran off, said Lt. Michael Lee of the Monrovia Police Department.

The dog ran about 200 feet, carrying the baby by her right side, before dropping her in the street, Lee said. Police and paramedics found her there and airlifted the baby to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center after the 2:45 p.m. incident in the 600 block of Laurel Lane.

The baby was in stable condition Wednesday with broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a perforated liver, broken clavicle and multiple puncture wounds to her back, Lee said.

“She is doing good now,” Lee said. “She is still on a ventilator, but they plan on weaning her off soon.”

No criminal charges have been filed, but the Department of Children and Family Services is “pushing an investigation” into whether the mother did enough to protect her child, Lee said.

“But [the police] closed it as no crime,” he said.

A spokesman at the DCFS declined to comment.

The dog will be quarantined for the next 10 days at the Inland Valley Humane Society and may be euthanized if it is declared dangerous. If the owners choose not to voluntarily put down the dog, a hearing will be scheduled within the next few weeks, Lee said.

“I was a dog handler for 10 years and have been on this job for 21,” Lee said. “I have never seen anything like this before. This is such a freak accident.”